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Beautiful Weather for a scrimmage today with the exception of the humidity, but that’s how it is in Columbia in the Spring and Summer. The scrimmage itself was sort of “Bland” in my opinion. Dylan saw limited snaps and didn’t have his best work going for him this morning. The Defense played outstanding and for the most of the scrimmage, they outplayed the offense. The O did manage to get the ball into the end zone a few times, but with the exception of one drive led by Connor Mitch (his second series) there wasn’t a lot to be impressed by coming from the offensive side today. Defensively, the front did a fantastic job of stuffing our ground game, and Darius English forced the QBs out of the pocket several times today shutting down the play or getting a sack. The first unit O/Line is pretty set by now. (C) Cody Waldrop, (RG) Mike Matulis, (RT) Brandon Shell, (LF) A.J. Cann, (LT) Corey Robinson. The starting TE is Buster Anderson and the WRs on the first unit today were Shaq Roland, Nick Jones and Pharoh Cooper. Of course Dylan Thompson and Mike Davis were the starting backfield with few reps on the day.The Defensive side is still “under Construction” but for the scrimmage today, I can tell you that the front was Darius English (SS End) Gerald Dixon (DE), with Gerald Dixon Jr and J.T. Surratt on the inside. Sharrod Golightly was the starting Spur with Skai Moore and Kaiwan Lewis as the Linebackers. Rico McWilliams and Jamari Smith started at Cornerback and our safeties were Chaz Elder and Brison Williams (Williams was the Free Safety). With that, this is how the Scrimmage went:

The ball was spotted at the South 30 to start the practice:Dylan Thompson was forced to scramble on the first snap and the play was blown dead when he ran out of bounds. Mike Davis carried over the left side for little gain, then carried up the middle for a first down at the south 40. Thompson was forced out of the pocket again and the whistle stopped play for no gain. Thompson then had his best play of the day throwing a deep corner route to Buster Anderson with the run after catch, he took the ball down to the North 8 yard line, but the drive stalled there after the snap from center was fumbled by Dylan who fell on it for a 14 yard loss. At the North 22, Thompson threw High to an open Pharoh Cooper in the end zone, then threw too wide to Coop on an out route. Elliott Fry then drilled a 38 yard field goal to save the drive.

The Ball was spotted at the North 25:Dylan was forced out of the pocket again, by Darius English but managed to turn it upfield for a gain of five yards. Thompson threw high on a deep sideline route to Jarrell Adams who should have brought the ball in, even with it being highly thrown. Thompson repeated the play on third down and connected with Adams for a pick up of 42 yards down the South 28. From there, Thompson hit KJ Brent on a short out route to pick up one yard, then threw for a first down to the 12 yard line hitting Shaq Roland on a short comeback route. Shon Carson carried off left tackle for a six yard gain, then Carson completed the drive by taking the ball in the End zone from the Six up the middle For the Touchdown. The PAT by Landon Ard was good.

The Ball was spotted at the South 25:Perry Orth’s first attempt to Shamier Jeffery was incomplete on a short slant, but then hit Matrick Belton on a WR screen for a short gain. Orth tried to connect with Belton again on a quick Slant but the ball was batted down and the drive stalled at that point and was re-spotted at the 25.

Devin Potter carried up the middle for a yard, and then made a nice run off the right end for 8 yards, but he fumbled on the play which was recovered by the offense. With the ball on the South 34, Two attempts to gain first down with one yard, with runs up the middle by Darius Paulk were stuffed both times by the middle of the defense, and the drive stalled again, and the ball spotted back to the 25.

Orth’s pass on first down to Jody Fuller on an out route was thrown wide. Orth was forced to run for his life when English came in untouched from the left side and the play was whistled dead. Orth then attempted a deep post route to Jarrell Adams but the ball was overthrown and the drive stalled for a third time.

The Ball was spotted at the South 25:Connor Mitch got up for his first series and didn’t fair much better. On the first play, he handed to Brandon Wilds up the middle who got STUFFED for no gain. Mitch’s pass to Jeffery on the left side, for a quick slant was overthrown, and then there were two consecutive motion penalties on the O/Line which moved the ball back to the South 15. From there, Mitch handed the ball to Devin Potter up the middle who gained 10 yards to the south 25, but with fourth and ten, the coaches decided to punt the ball and kill the drive.

The Ball was spotted at the South 25:Brendon Nosovitch was up and gave the ball to Paulk up the middle who made a nice cut to his left and TRUCKED a defender on his way to a 14 yard pickup. He carried again on a straight sweep to the right side and picked up another first down with a gain of 10 yards to the South 49. Noso threw complete to Kelvin Rainey on a nice back shoulder fade that Rainey caught falling backwards, taking the offense down to the North 17. Rod Talley carried around the right end for a short pickup, but a facemask penalty moved the ball to the 8. Noso handed the ball to Talley on an attempted Draw, but the defense read the play and stuffed Talley in the backfield for a two yard loss. Noso threw way low to an open Rainey on a post route, and then threw high on a closely defended fade route intended for Fuller. Fry came on for the 28 yard Field Goal and drilled it for three.

The Ball was spotted at the North 25:Connor Mitch got up for his second set of reps, and hit Matt Harvey on a comeback route down the right sideline for a pickup of 14. Paulk carried up the middle for 5 yards, and Mitch then threw a strike on a skinny post route to tightly guarded Jacob August that picked up 21 yards to the South 35. From there, Mitch connected again to Harvey on a quick hitch for 7 yards, and then attempted to hit Jacob August on a slant route, but the ball was thrown behind the receiver. Mitch connected with Andrew Bunch for a 6 yard pickup, on a good looking slant that got the ball down to the 22. Connor was sacked on the next play by Marcquis Roberts for a loss of 8, back to the 30. From there, Mitch connected with Bunch on a good looking deep out route to pick up 19 yards. Potter carried up the middle for a gain of 1, then Mitch threw to August for a short pick up of 4, down to the 6 yard line. On the next play, Connor threw a quick lateral pass over to Brandon Wilds on the left side, and Wilds then threw a strike to August who was standing near the back line of the end zone unguarded for the Touchdown. The PAT by Ard was good.

At this point, the coaches spotted the ball at the South 25. and had Each QB run a series with the offense to the short field. Dylan lead the first series by attempting a quick post route in the end zone to Nick Jones, but the ball was thrown a little too high to an open Jones. Thompson connected with Jones on a quick out for a pickup of five. Mike Davis took the ball up the right tackle, but he was completely shut down by the defense for no gain. With 4th and 6, Fry came on to attempt a 38 yard field goal and split the uprights.

The Ball was spotted at the South 25 (going short field)Orth attempted a quick post to Adams with his first rep, but Adams was too closely defended and was unable to bring the ball in. Orth drilled a strike to Brent on his next attempt, on a comeback route that took the ball down to the 9 yard line. Wilds then carried up the middle for a 4 yard gain to the 5, and Orth then tried to hit KJ in the left corner on a fade route, but TJ Gurley hit Brent too early and interference was called, and the ball was spotted at the 3 yard line. From there Shon Carson carred up the middle twice and scored a Touchdown on his second carry. The PAT by Ard was good.

The Ball was spotted at the South 25 (going short field)Connor Mitch tried to find Shamier on this first rep, but the ball was thrown a little high on a quick post route. Connor then connected with Jody Fuller for a pickup of five on a quick slant from the left side. From the 20, Mitch fired a strike to Fuller on a skinny post route for a Touchdown. The PAT by ??? #34 was good.

The Ball was spotted at the South 25 (going short field)Noso drilled a nice completion to Andrew Bunch on his first attempt, with a comeback route, taking the ball down to the 8 yard line. From there, Brendon overthrew Carlton Heard running a quick out. Wilds carried up the middle and was stuffed for a two yard loss. From the 10, Noso tried to find Matt Harvey on a fade route to his right but the ball was thrown too high. And fourth and goal from the 10, Brendon completed a short post route to Heard for the Touchdown ending the scrimmage.

The Defense won this one with their overall body of work. Elliott Fry had a good scrimmage drilling all his attempts, and of the four QBs taking reps today, (IMO) Connor Mitch was the best looking of the group. The seam route / skinny post he threw to Jacob August for the long pick up was a thing of beauty. August was tightly guarded by two defenders and Mitch got the ball in the prefect spot for August to take the ball in stride.

Winding down to the finish now. Three more practices next week, and then the Spring game next Saturday.

Spurticus, thanks again for a great read. My surprise pick for this fall is Matt Harvey. What do you think. Who is your surprise pick for the fall

Matt is an improved receiver, but I wouldn't count on seeing a lot of him
this fall. Late in games and such. He is greatly improved over last season
though. He's starting to get a lot of work in practices and has made some
good catches. He just isn't "Physical" enough to get off of hard checks at
the line, and has trouble fighting for passes against tight coverage. Sad
too, because with his height, if he was a little more aggressive he'd be
a hell of a weapon in the redzone for jump balls in the end zone, and
Hail Mary type plays. ........He's better, but still not there yet.

My surprise player this spring so far is Jacob August. Walk on TE. Dude
has got some hands, and can block very well. He's following the same
path that got Buster Anderson noticed a couple of years ago. He showed
ZERO fear on that skinny post route going up the middle and catching that
pass by Connor Mitch and between two DBs. I like watching that guy play !

Spurt, Thanks again!!
Did you happen to see when/how Busta got injured?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hadn't heard about Buster getting hurt ?!?! ... He caught that one pass
early in the scrimmage thrown by Thompson and made a nice run afterwards
and then I didn't see him again the rest of the scrimmage. He didn't appear
hurt on that play, but it's possible since he disappeared after that play.

I hadn't heard about Buster getting hurt ?!?! ... He caught that one pass
early in the scrimmage thrown by Thompson and made a nice run afterwards
and then I didn't see him again the rest of the scrimmage. He didn't appear
hurt on that play, but it's possible since he disappeared after that play.

WOW.... hope it's nothing serious

Got this around today:
GoGamecocks
Rory Anderson will miss the rest of the spring with a torn tricep. He is hopeful to be back by August.

One thing to note today. I was around the kickers today and 2 of our punters (Tyler Hull and Fish, I believe), were constantly booting 55-60 yard punts with pretty good hang time on them. We could really take advantage of field position this year if they translate that to the actual games.

I have two nagging questions left behind from last season and I wonder if you see any improvement in either.

The first is about Nick Jones, my lingering impression from last season, was that all too often he dropped the first pass to him in a game, then would have sure hands after that.

The second was that our OL had issues opening holes on a consistent basis or presenting creases that our RB could use inside. Yes, the RBs got their yards but a lot were very tough with the holes closing very quickly. I ask this because you indicated you were expecting the offense to have more of a ground game this year. Does it look like we will be much improved inside this year?

I have two nagging questions left behind from last season and I wonder if you see any improvement in either.

The first is about Nick Jones, my lingering impression from last season, was that all too often he dropped the first pass to him in a game, then would have sure hands after that.

The second was that our OL had issues opening holes on a consistent basis or presenting creases that our RB could use inside. Yes, the RBs got their yards but a lot were very tough with the holes closing very quickly. I ask this because you indicated you were expecting the offense to have more of a ground game this year. Does it look like we will be much improved inside this year?

Nick has been "quiet" most of the spring so far (on the practice field
anyway) Just haven't seen the QBs throw that often to him to get an
idea of how much he's improved or regressed since last year. I do agree
that Jones was well below his potential last season though. He got open
once today on a short post route, but the QB overthrew him in the
endzone.

I wasn't too thrilled with the output of the O/Line this morning. We have
four bona fide, solid RBs on this team (Davis, Wilds, Williams and Carson).
Any team in the SEC would LOVE to have a roster that good, and that
deep. We have used the RBs a lot in practices (even the walk ons and
lesser used guys), and they've done pretty good.... BUT, that's why I
keep repeating every year in the practice reports that it's almost impossible
to tell how good your O/line and D/line are on the practice field if the
team is in shoulder pads and Helmets (Shells). During scrimmages is
where you get a true indication of what you have on the line. ... This
morning, our three o/line units were flat WHIPPED by the D/line. Especially
with the ground game.

I have two nagging questions left behind from last season and I wonder if you see any improvement in either.

The first is about Nick Jones, my lingering impression from last season, was that all too often he dropped the first pass to him in a game, then would have sure hands after that.

The second was that our OL had issues opening holes on a consistent basis or presenting creases that our RB could use inside. Yes, the RBs got their yards but a lot were very tough with the holes closing very quickly. I ask this because you indicated you were expecting the offense to have more of a ground game this year. Does it look like we will be much improved inside this year?

To me it was more play calling to keep the defense honest and set up the pass. Once teams got notice of mike Davis they would stack the box with 7 and 8 players. So it about numbers, 6 Oline vs 7&8 D-line. We still call running playes up the middle when most teams shift to the quick slant. Like Georgia kept 8 in the box. So its not so much the Oline opening holes, I think it was simply the play calling, and our decision to keep or change the play at the line. Anyway over 1100 yards, the Oline did a good job.

To me it was more play calling to keep the defense honest and set up the pass. Once teams got notice of mike Davis they would stack the box with 7 and 8 players. So it about numbers, 6 Oline vs 7&8 D-line. We still call running playes up the middle when most teams shift to the quick slant. Like Georgia kept 8 in the box. So its not so much the Oline opening holes, I think it was simply the play calling, and our decision to keep or change the play at the line. Anyway over 1100 yards, the Oline did a good job.

Don't get me wrong, I think our RBs did a great job. But, a lot of those yards were very tough ones regardless and the RBs paid for everyone of them. I was and will hope the OL will be more dominant this year.